In The Middle ~ Mad Hatter

Thursday, August 17, 2017

August 17, 2017Well, here it is.......almost the end of another summer! This summer our granddaughter, Emily, will be getting married in Breckenridge, CO. The wedding is planned for the 24th. We are going to be driving out. We wanted to rent a smaller size motor home to drive out so we would be able to move around more while on the road since I have trouble sitting still for very long. But try as we might, there was nothing available for the days we needed so we are driving out in Tom's truck. It will be a long, long trip and I hope it won't be too miserable for us. We both have trouble with our backs and pain sometimes gets out of hand even with our pain meds.We weren't sure if we were going to be able to make it at all. We were waiting for our state tax return which didn't come and didn't come. Seems it was being held up due to some unresolved third party debt. Finally it was settled and it came.........just in time for us to be able to make the trip. I would hate to miss seeing Emily and Tyler get married! Now I won't have too!On another note, I think Amber is going to go back with Bobby. I don't care, if that is what she wants to do! I have my doubts that he will ever change. He is a selfish man and doesn't seem to want to help Amber at all. Even to watch the kids (and one of them is his) for 15 minutes so she can take a shower! I wish her luck, but I think she has enough guts to walk away from it if it is too bad! She did it twice before with him so I think she will do it again if the need arises. She had enough guts to walk away from Michael......Triton's daddy....and I think she would do it to Bobby (Easton's daddy) should she need to!Other than that, Tom has been working a lot of overtime. The money is nice, but it sucks spending so much time alone with just the dogs. That's right, I said dogs! We have a new puppy. Well he arrived in May for my birthday. He is a German Shepard, Lab, Border Collie mix and is a cute as a bug.

Sunday, April 23, 2017

is almost here. A couple more days and out temps will only have highs in the low 50's or mid 60's! I don't mind as long as the sun shines. I dislike dreary, gray, rainy days when it's so cold your bones are chilled and just can't seem to warm up.

Actually, I rather like the fall weather. Crisp air, brilliant sunshine, leaves a beautiful array of colors is to my liking. The only bad thing I can find with fall is that winter follows it...sigh! But I don't want to think of that now. I want to concentrate on the crispy mornings with sunshine and evenings with clear, bright moon shine and stars twinkling so bright it seems as if you could reach up and touch them!

Well, here it is November. The month that hubby heads up north to Michigan's Upper Peninsula to deer hunt for two weeks. I miss him when he's up there, but he works hard all year long and deserves this time to hunt, enjoy family members who also hunt and just to get away without any worries at all. He wasn't sure he was going to be able to go because they laid him off the beginning of Oct. which means he wouldn't have the extra money to go. He lucked out and they called him back from lay-off beginning Oct. 31st. One of the things that would have been so hard for him was that if he remained on lay-off, he would have lost his health insurance benefits through his employer. And with all the medical issues he and I have would have placed us in a world of hurt!! I have been to the E.R. 2 times in a four-day period. The first one was for muscle spasms in my back and 2 days later it was because of severe itching due to an unexpected and unwanted new allergy to the Penicillin I had been on for a sinus infection. Guess I won't be taking that anti-biotic anymore!

And November brings us all closer to the Christmas holiday, which is very expensive when you have as many grandchildren as we do. We would like to do more for them but it is impossible with the cost of everything now and the prices are still going up on food, gas, toys, etc. Every one gets a present that has been picked just for them! I am glad we live close enough to most of them so we know what the like to do and what interests they have at the present time. Our clan in Kentucky are not difficult either. We send them a prepaid Visa or MasterCard and let momma and daddy shop for things the four kids down there would like.

A new year and maybe a new start on blogging. Seems like everyone has turned to Facebook to be their social media. I don't always like to make things that public. So I am going to try blogging again. Hoping that some of my friends that use to blog will return or have returned.A lot has happened in the last year or so that I have been on Facebook. Amber has had another baby boy and is still with Bobby. They have their ups and downs but seem to be doing much better than she and the jerk from her past! Her boys are adorable and I wish I were in better health so I could have them more. But at 2 1/2 and 9 months they are very mobile and busy and this old body that will be 71 next month just isn't able to keep up anymore! I hate that part of getting old!Since I wrote last I have had cataract surgery on both eyes and can now see without glasses for seeing distances but still need them for reading. But I love not having to wear glasses all the time and when the weather gets hot will love not having them sliding down my nose!Brian's divorce was final and he and Belinda had a Spiritual Ceremony Friday evening. His children and Belinda's twin sister Mabel were in attendance along with Tom and I. It was very nice and we all went to Brann's after and shared a meal. So his children now have a Step-mom but she isn't the mean kind. They will have a civil wedding later this summer to make it legal in the eyes of the rest of the world, but in God's eyes they are married and committed. It is now Thursday the 20th and tomorrow Tom and I will have been married 27 years! Longer than I ever thought we would be married. Not because it is hard to be married to him, but because we got married later in life and I wasn't sure either of us would live this long! But here we are celebrating another year..........hooray for us! Brian and Belinda were out tonight visiting and having some dessert with her twin Mabel. She's also a very nice gal. Not exactly like Belinda but nice!I am hoping to get a puppy come the beginning of May. A little boy puppy and his name right now is Wookie. He is so adorable. He is a German Shepard, Border Collie and Lab mix. We will change his name to Bear. And I just found out that we will be his adopted parents. Nothing could have made me happier............well, nothing except learning that my hubby will get to go on first shift!

Sunday, November 15, 2015

Well, it's been quite some time since I last posted and I miss blogging. I think when Facebook came out I was spending a lot of time there, but now it is getting old and tiresome to me. So I decided to go back to blogging to see if I can still write anything interesting........nothing profound, just the usual stuff.
I actually don't even know when the last time was that I was here but it must have been close to a year ago. Not much has changed.......oh, I've gotten older but that happens every year so that's not new. The kids are well as are the grandkids. The grandkids are all growing up way to fast for my liking. Amber is now 18 1/2 and is living with her boyfriend and I rarely see her. I miss her terribly but what can ya do! Drew is now 9 and our oldest grandson is 24 and the youngest granddaughter is 4 now. No babies left. Maybe Bumpa and I will live long enough to see a greatgrandchild but it doesn't look very hopeful or likely at this point. I guess I would rather wait until they are ready and want to have babies anyway. None of this 'surpise' stuff!
It's almost Thanksgiving and I have a lot to be thankful for. Of course I often forget and complain about things too instead of putting my blessings first! I guess that is typical of humans....at least this one!

Okay, it is the 15th of November 2015. My first husband has now been gone 40 years today! Doesn't seem possible that we have come so far since then and the kids are all grown up with families. Time waits for no one. They are all relatively happy. The oldest son is getting a divorce but he and his wife have handled it very well and the kids are doing good and are okay with it! The middle son is doing good with his wife and all children are doing good there too. The youngest son is still with that same girlfriend and have their ups and downs...........right now they are having an "ups" time. His soon to be ex-wife is doing fantastic finally. Has found herself a new man who treats her and the boys extremely well! We are happy for her and our grandsons! Both girls are doing good..........the oldest has a new job and she is able to work from home now. The youngest is still living in Kentucky and seems happy at the moment.Our granddaughter, Amber is living with us along with her boyfriend Bobby. They seem well matched and get along great. Her baby Triton is 14 months old now and is walking and climbing and gets into everything! But he is a joy. He has to go every weekend to see his Daddy according to the temporary court order but she has a date on Dec. 23rd at 2 PM to establish child support and set up permanent parental visitation which hopefully will only be every other weekend. We will have the baby for Thanksgiving because he doesn't have to go with his dad until Friday at 6PM after the holiday. As it stands now we will also have him for Christmas morning until 6PM that evening unless that changes on December 23rd after the new court date. Amber is doing work in the house to earn money to pay her attorney............it's only $20. a week but still it is something. We are basically supporting her and the baby and have for most of the year so we will be claiming them on our taxes this year.Tom is in the U.P. deer hunting and I hope he has a good time and is able to get his "buck" this year. Usually all he gets is "back"! LOL! He is up there with his Uncle Rick and some other family members. I will miss him. He will only be gone one week this year because no one else is able to go for the 2nd week up there. I think he said he was off the rest of November now. Maybe I can get my eyes tested and new glasses which I desperately need and perhaps get some Christmas shopping at least started! I don't like waiting until the last minute. I like to get my tree up the weekend after Thanksgiving but am wondering this year how good of an idea that is having the busy great-grandson into everything. I can picture him wanting to take the ornaments off my tree! It will be fun to see his expression after the tree is completely decorated and the lights are all turned on! Last year he was only 4 months old at Christmas time so he doesn't remember much about it and he was basically immobile last year and this year is a totally different ball game! It should be a lot of fun! I better try and get some more sleep. It is now 4:37 AM and I will have to get up and get some things accomplished in the morning before that great grand-baby gets home late afternoon! Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Here it is, Feb. 12, 2014. Seems the time goes faster and faster and I get older and older! Of course the alternative to getting older isn't that appealing to me either so I'll take the getting older! A couple more days and it will be Valentine's Day! We don't really have any plans nor do we ever really make any for what we consider a 'Hallmark' day! We try and show how much we love each other every day of the year.......not just a day the card companies think we should!

He goes to work every day (when he's not laid off or on vacation) and works plenty hard to provide a good living for us. And when he is laid off, he works hard helping me in the house and working outside the house providing firewood for the fireplace as supplemental heating and just because I like to have a fire in the fireplace! If I am sick or just not feeling good, he steps up and does all of the housework, plus waits on me. I am one lucky woman and don't think I don't know it!

I am eagerally awaiting the arrival of Spring while wondering if it will ever get here. We have had a very long and cold and snowy winter and most people are ready for Spring to show it's most welcome face this year. We have had over 90 inches of snow and we have not had a day above freezing since sometime in December. Lake Michigan has more ice on it than it has had in a decade which should really raise the level of that Great Lake. If we do get any rain and warmer temperatures, we are at risk of flooding with so much ice on the lakes and rivers. We could very well have a terrible flood problem. Thank goodness, we are not in those areas. The most we would get is the small creek behind our home overflowing and turning the area mushy and swampy! It has happened before and our dogs love it of course......me......not so much!

Saturday, December 07, 2013

Wow, here it is almost the end of another year! Christmas is just around the corner and I have not finished my shopping or even started on Christmas cards yet! It seems too cold to go out shopping. Our temps right now is 8º. Thank heaven there is no wind. I am cold in the house even though it is nice in here. It will be nicer when Bumpa gets home from work and gets a fire going. I love our fireplace.........it adds a certain ambiance to the Christmas spirit along with the extra warmth. The tree is up and the lights are on but I still need to decorate it. I will probably finish it this weekend if my back feels better and this cold that is trying to catch me doesn't! Seems as if I've been fighting it off for a week now......I sure wish it would just go away. Bumpa is having problems with his sinuses too. I'm sure it must be Michigan winters. It's warm outside with temps almost 50 and then turns much colder and gets windy and snowy. Old Man Winter just can't make up his mind. All in all, it hasn't been a bad winter so far. We haven't had a lot of snow which is much more pleasant for driving. And one of the nice things about being retired is not having to get out every day and drive if the weather is nasty. This last blast of arctic air is supposed to stick around until the middle of next week and then it is supposed to be normal temps for this time of year. We are expecting some lake effect snow tomorrow night and it is always hard to predict exactly how much we will get then. We got about 2 inches yesterday afternoon and last night and today we got just a dusting of light snow. But the dusting today is beautiful. When the light shines on it, it looks like a hundred diamonds sparkling! Let's hope the next snowfall looks the same.

Thursday, August 02, 2012

August 1st, 2012 - My late husbands birthday. He would be 71 today. He celebrated his 37th birthday in Heaven with Angels singing! I celebrated it alone.........I think I am the only one left who remembers when his birthday is. Oh, I could have called the kids and reminded them but they have their own life's and are busy, busy, busy!

I often wonder how my life would have turned out if he had lived instead of dying at the young age of 34. How would his children be affected if he had lived? Don't get me wrong, I totally love my husband and I have spent more years with him than Dave and I had, and wondering isn't discrediting our marriage any....it's been a good one! Just wondering how different things would be now and how different things might have been while the kids were growing up......it's really hard to imagine! I suppose the kids would have had the benefit of being raised by two parents instead of one and I'm sure that would have made a difference. I didn't remarry until the kids were pretty much grown up. The youngest was 16, the next one was 17 1/2 and the oldest 19. At that age the die is pretty well cast and I'm sure my husband didn't have that much of an effect on my kids. They like him. It wasn't always like that....for many years some of them resented him. It's only in the last few years that they all have come to appreciate everything he has done for them in the past and even now.

So as I put an end to Dave's 71st Birthday I guess I will go on wondering when ever I think about his birthday......every year on Aug. 1st and other days that were special to us through out the year.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

The end of the month is almost here and nothing has changed much at all. Tom is still laid off and it doesn't look good for him to be called back any time soon, if at all. He will have to go job hunting beginning in June. I don't envy him! At his age it is hard enough to get up and go to work every day when you do have a job and it's even harder to get up in the morning knowing you have to go job hunting. There aren't really any jobs out there for him. At least not ones that will pay what he needs to make just to keep us afloat! I'm glad I'm retired! Although if I could still work I know the money that I would bring in would be a small amount it would still help some!

Memorial Day came and went. We went to the cemetery earlier last week and did Dave's grave. Rita has this year to do Mom and Dad's and Grandma and Grandpa's and Aunt Minnie and Uncle Walter's graves this year. She has the even years and we have the odd ones. She said she did it that way because we are odd and that's the way she would be able to remember! She's so silly!

We also planted flowers in our yard. Well, not exactly in our yard..........more like in pots and placed them around the house and deck, porch and patio where we can enjoy them when we sit outside. Even some near the kitchen window over the sink so I have something to look at besides weeks when I'm doing dishes! I do love the bright colors. Seems to put me a better mood.